1. Full name of doctoral candidate: Nguyen Minh Ha 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: February 2, 1993 4. Place of birth: Hanoi
5. Decision to admit doctoral students No.: 3684/2015/QD-XHNV, dated December 31, 2015
6. Changes in the training process:
- Title of the research topic changed: “Identity Formation in Adolescence” to “Characteristics of Personal Identity in Young People”, March 9, 2018
- Thesis extension: 1 year (from December 31, 2019 to December 31, 2020)
7. Thesis title: Characteristics of individual identity in adolescents
8. Major: Psychology 9. Code: 62 31 04 01
10. Scientific supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Hang and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Thi Hong Thai
11. Summarize thenew resultsof the thesis:
This dissertation is a preliminary, systematic scientific study on the identity state of adolescents, and the research results have the following novel points:
11.1. In theory
- Research trends in the overview indicate that the issue of identity is studied from both a content-based and a process-based approach. Marcia's theory of identity states touches on both these dimensions, and is therefore used as the main approach in this thesis.
- The thesis selects several individual and interpersonal psychological factors related to personal identity for examination as influencing factors. These factors include: self-esteem, the feeling of interdependent happiness, belief in one's own effectiveness, the focus of control, parenting behavior, attachment to friends, and school experiences.
- The dissertation systematically presents the theoretical basis based on the identity state approach and specifically details the research methods used.
11.2. In practice
- In reality, the identity status of adolescents is mainly distributed into the group of temporarily suspended identities, followed by ambiguous identities; lost identities and acquired identities account for a small proportion. Cross-sectional studies suggest that there is a movement with age towards more progressive identities and a gradual decrease in the proportion of the remaining identity groups. There are differences when comparing these results with Western studies, the cultural context of the community having an impact on this difference.
- The socio-political perspective is the most prominent aspect of identity, while the spiritual aspect is less prominent; peer relationships seem to play a more significant role than close relationships during this period.
- In addition, there were significant differences in terms of gender, age group, education level, place of residence, and the person most meaningful to the individual across several identity state score groups. Cross-tabulation analysis of the categorized identity states suggests that female subjects appear to be more mature than male subjects in exploring relationship identity.
- Individual and interpersonal psychological factors considered in the study showed a certain impact on identity state scores, but all were at low levels. Specifically, low self-esteem and low effective ego predicted ambiguous identity under the moderation of age. Logistic regression model testing revealed risk and promotion factors for each identity state. Based on this, the thesis proposes a preventative identity development support program for adolescents, comprising four content groups: life skills training for adolescents, organizing teaching and learning appropriate to the developmental characteristics of adolescents, enhancing parental knowledge and skills through workshops, and developing high-quality, practical extracurricular activities.
12. Practical applications:
Based on the research findings, to support the development of identity in adolescents, we found it necessary to focus on both the individual and interpersonal aspects of adolescents. Regarding the individual aspect, we suggest enhancing self-esteem, strengthening internal control, and improving the individual's effective sense of self. For the interpersonal aspect, we propose changes from the family, specifically effective parenting styles, ways to build strong friendships, and innovation in schools regarding the organization of meaningful learning activities and practical, experiential extracurricular activities.
13. Future research directions:
Firstly, research on individual identity among Vietnamese adolescents needs to take into account cultural adaptation more thoroughly when operating on the concept of identity. Specifically, the conceptual content of identity is comprised of areas and aspects that are closely related to the Vietnamese sense of individual identity.
Secondly, conduct research on a larger group of subjects, taking into account both the number of participants and demographic factors. For example, investigate how adolescents who do not attend school, drop out early, or pursue careers immediately after graduation develop different identity characteristics compared to adolescents who continue their education.
Third, further research should be conducted to expand the longitudinal data. This will provide a more robust basis for a more comprehensive understanding of the development of personal identity among Vietnamese youth.
14. Published works related to the dissertation:
- Nguyen Minh Ha (2018), “James E. Marcia’s State of Identity Theory in the Study of Individual Identity in Adolescents”,Proceedings of the Conference on Psychology and Sustainable DevelopmentVolume 2, Hong Duc Publishing House, pp. 107-116.
- Nguyen Minh Ha (2021), “Identity states in adolescents and their relationship with self-esteem”,Journal of Psychology, 1(262), pp.60-75.
- Nguyen Minh Ha (2021), “Identity states in adolescents: a cross-sectional study on Vietnamese adolescents”,Journal of Psychology, 8(269), pp.79-97.
INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS
1. Full name: Nguyen Minh Ha 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: 02 February 1993 4. Place of birth: Hanoi
5. Admission decision number: 3684/2015/QD-XHNV, dated 31 December 2015
6. Changes in academic process:
- Change of thesis title: From “Identity formation in adolescents” to “Personal identity traits in adolescents”, dated 09 March 2018
- Thesis extension: 1 year (from 31 December 2019 to 31 December 2020)
7. Official thesis title: Personal identity traits in adolescence
8. Major: Psychology 9. Code: 62 31 04 01
10. Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Hang and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Thi Hong Thai
11. Summary of thenew sensationsof the thesis:
Being the first systematic scientific work on the identity status in adolescence, the thesis shows new results as follows:
11.1. Theoretical results
- Research trends in the overview indicate that identity issues are studied from content approach and process approach. Marcia's theory of identity status touches both of these aspects, and is therefore used as the main approach in the thesis.
- The thesis chooses a number of personal and interpersonal psychological factors that are related to personal identity to survey as investigated factors. These include: self-esteem, interdependent happiness, self-efficacy, locus of control, parenting behavior, friendship attachment, and school experiences.
- The thesis presents the theoretical basis according to identity status approach in a systematic way and specifically presents the research methods used.
11.2. Practical results
- The identity status in adolescence is mainly distributed into the group of moratorium identity, followed by diffusion identity; foreclosure identity and achievement identity take a small proportion. Cross-sectional studies provide suggestions that there is an age-related movement towards more advanced identity and decreased movement towards the remaining identity groups. There is a difference when comparing these results with studies in the West, the collective context may have an impact on this difference.
- Sociopolitical perspective is the most prominent field in teenagers's identity, while spirituality field is faintly present in identity; peer relationships seem to play a more important role than romantic relationships in adolescence.
- Besides, there are significant differences in identity status scores in terms of gender, age group, education level, place of residence and significant other. Cross-table analysis on classified identity statuses shows that female seems to be more mature than male in exploring interpersonal identity.
- The personal and interpersonal pschological factors in the study show a certain impact on the score of different identity statuses, but all are low. In which, low self-esteem and low self-efficacy predict identity diffusion under the moderation of age factors.
- Logistic regression model testing reveals the risk factors and precipitating factors affecting on each identity status. On that basis, the thesis recommends a prevention program to support identity development in adolescents, including 4 groups of activities: training life skills for adolescents, organizing an appropriate teaching-and-learning environment for adolescents according to their characteristics of psycho-physiological development, enhancing knowledge and skills for parents through workshop, and developing more practical extracurricular activities.
12. Practical applicability:
Drawing from the research results, in order to support adolescents to develop their identities, it is necessary to focus on the individual and interpersonal aspects of adolescents. For the personal aspect, we suggest that it is necessary to help adolescents improve self-esteem, strengthen the internal locus of control, and improve the self-efficacy. For the interpersonal aspect, we recommend effective parenting for parents, ways to build strong peer relationships, and some changes in school such as organizing meaningful learning activities and practical extracurricular activities for students.
13. Further research directions:
First, research on personal identity among Vietnamese parents needs to pay more attention to cultural adaptation when operating the concept of identity. specifically, it should be composed of areas and aspects that are close to the Vietnamese people's sense of personal identity.
Second, conduct research on a larger group of subjects in terms of both sample size and demographic factors. For example, find out how teenagers who don't go to school, drop out of school early, or get career guidance right after graduation have distinctively different identity development compared to teenagers who continue on to higher education.
Third, continue to do longitudinal research. It provides solid grounds for a more comprehensive formulation of identity development in Vietnamese adolescents.
14. Thesis-related publications:
- Nguyen Minh Ha (2018), “James E. Marcia's identity status theory in adolescent identity research”,Proceedings of Conference on Psychology and Sustainable DevelopmentVolume 2, Hong Duc Publishing House, pp.107-116.
- Nguyen Minh Ha (2021), “Identity status in adolescence and its relationship with self esteem”,Journal of Psychology, 1(262), pp.60-75.
- Nguyen Minh Ha (2021), “Identity status in adolescence: a cross-sectional study of Vietnamese adolescents”,Journal of Psychology, 8(269), pp.79-97.
